Kicking it Mortal
by Virgin Oracle
Summary: My take on Percy and Annabeth adjusting to life in both mortal and mythological realms of life. I'm sticking to the PJO and HoO timeline, so 1st story falls between TLO and TLH. Made a mistake, it's supposed to be only a few months into their relationship. Rated M just to be safe; I don't know where certain stories will take me. Each chapter, unless specified, will be a one-shot.
1. Lucky shot

**Mid-October of Percy and Annabeth's second year together. Post-TLO, w/out the HoO series. Percy and Annabeth are trying to figure out life as children of both mythological and mortal worlds. **

The evening breeze is warm and soft against his skin, ruffling his untidy black hair. Fall nights in NYC were some of the best, and it didn't get any better than being able to walk his girlfriend back to her dorm after a memorable day of trailer food, walking in the part, and visiting the Natural History Museum. Percy had really only wanted to go after seeing the recent movie, but Annabeth naturally had been all too excited to drag him through every other exhibit before they finally made it to the T-Rex skeleton. Which, honestly had been anti-climactic. He had been half hoping that it would be an hidden automaton, or at least a mortal animatronic structure.

But as such, he had bored with it and the other fossils within minutes of exploring the exhibiting. Instead he contented himself with watching Annabeth geek out over the architecture of the building and stealing kisses from her whenever he got the chance. Days alone with her were so rare, what with their different school schedules and proximal separation. So he took full advantage of the time he did get with her.

Somehow he missed her transition from the enthusiastic banter about past to questions about the future. Before he knew it, she is staring at him expectantly and he has no idea why. His blank stare must clue her in about how lost he is, because she rolls her eyes and thumps him once on the arm.

She asks her question again. Has he looked at the pre-SAT prep materials that she gave him? If he wanted to try for the same college as her, he ought to start doing basic prep now. Truth be told, he hadn't given any thought at all to college yet. After all, they were only juniors in high school. Couldn't this wait until next year? He tells her so.

Annabeth huffs and doesn't continue. But he can tell that she's going to stew about this. Most likely jump him again with it later, once it has sufficiently broiled in her overactive mind into a full-blown retort.

It's late though, and the museum is closing down when they finally decide to leave. As they walk down the street towards the subway entrance, he decides to head her off before she gets a full head of steam.

He reaches an arm around her waist and asks her if she enjoyed herself today. When she doesn't respond, he sighs and asks what is bothering her. He has an idea, but with her, he sometimes doesn't always have a total comprehension of the problem (Man, talk about SAT prep, she would be proud to hear him use these words in his head).

She shrugs her shoulders sharply, then regards him with stormy eyes for a second before responding. "It's just that, you never plan ahead."

He snorts, "You just now figured that out?" Probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.

Her forehead knits itself into several lines and she glares at him. "Please Seaweed Brain, I've known that you prefer to leap headlong and blind at problems since you challenged Ares back when we were 12. I just would have thought that you would give more forethought to something you care about."

He sighs, "Yeah, cause things always turn out exactly like how I plan. Throwing a water bomb at Thalia for example, seemed like such a good idea at the time..."

"I'm being serious Percy."

He looks at her, eyebrows raised. "What for? We haven't even finished junior year of high school yet. There's plenty of time."

She rolls her eyes, "Most people take the SAT during their junior year, so they can start applying for colleges over the summer."

"I did take the SAT Annabeth."

"And you flunked it. You can't fly by the seat of your pants in a standardized test oh dyslexic one. You need to prepare for it, practice."

He scowls. "Yeah, well that's boring. I'd much rather practice my sparring. Or spending time with you." He leans in towards her, but she pushes him away.

"That's the thing Percy. Do you want this relationship to last?"

He stares at her, startled by the slight edge in her voice, the raised tones. "Why would you ask that?"

"What do you think will happen then, in a year from now, when I'm going off to university somewhere? What will you be doing Seaweed Brain?"

He pauses, "Going with you I guess."

She shakes her head, "You won't be able to go with me Percy, not unless we're at the same university. Freshmen usually have to stay in the dorms. Can you honestly tell me that you'll be able to afford an apartment on your own fresh out of high school? Will you be able to get a job? When will we have time to spend together?"

He puts his hands on her shoulders to slow her down. "Woah there, Wise Girl. Slow down. This is all stuff we can figure out later."

She draws her lips into a thin line. "And what if I don't want to figure it out later Percy? What is so hard about studying for this test and at least trying to do well?"

He scratches his head, as she seems to be jumping between three, or four, different subjects at once. "Ok wait, are you mad at me because I won't retake the SAT? Or because I don't plan ahead? Or because you don't want me to go follow you to college next year?"

She groans. "No Seaweed Brain, I'm angry because you don't seem to give a flying fuck about making this, _us_, last past high school and our years at Camp."

Annabeth doesn't normally cuss, and that coupled with her tone leaves Percy speechless. Their train has arrived anyway.

He starts towards the doors, but she pulls her hand from his and steps back. "You know what, I'd like to walk back. I need some fresh air." And without another word she turns on her heel and heads back out of the station.

Percy watches her for a ways before shaking his head and jogging to catch up with her. As he steps in pace with her, she rolls her eyes and growls at him, annoyance pouring through her words. "Aren't you going to miss your train?"

He's angry now too. Things were going so well this afternoon, they had been having such a good time. Why did she have to go and ruin their day with her overactive, strategizing mind? "I'm sticking with you Annabeth, even when you decide to walk halfway across the city in the dark." And then he lets his anger take over and he says something stupid. "Even when you go and ruin a perfectly good afternoon."

She turns and punches him in the arm, _hard. _Then, she shoves him up against the wall and seizes his lips with hers, kissing him into oblivion. She breaks away and glares at him. Dazed, and more than a little befuddled, he can only manage "Wha-"

"_That_, Percy, is what I'm _ruining_ your afternoon for. I don't know about you, but I want more out of this relationship. Unless you get your act together, and try to make some effort at mortal life, this is all you're going to get."

With that, she turns to storm away. But he grabs her arm. Now his voice sounds out, louder than he intends, sharper. "Effort at mortal life Annabeth? Last year I saved this city! I gave up living on Olympus to have a chance at a mortal life! This stuff is harder for me! I'm not you, I'm not brilliant and good at books and school and shit. What I'm good at, most mortals would lock me away for! What am I supposed to do, write in my admissions essay that I spent my summer killing a Titan? How much of a chance do you think I'll have next to a kid who volunteered at a hospital, or had a job? Even if I get into the same college as you, or near you, what makes you think I'll be able to stay there? Do you know how many schools I've been kicked out of in 17 years?! I've lost track! Was it because I misbehaved, or flunked out? No! IT'S BECAUSE I'M A FUCKING SON OF THE GREEK GOD OF THE OCEAN."

He didn't realize he was yelling until a cop taps him on the shoulder. "Is everything ok here?" He's directing the question to Annabeth, of course.

She takes his hand and pulls him to her side. "Yes officer, everything is fine. My boyfriend is just stressed about his Classical mythology final."

The officer nods, and then walks back to his squad car.

She doesn't let go of his hand, and together they continue walking down the street. They walk in silence for several blocks, each fuming in their own thoughts.

Finally, she breaks the silence. "Look, I know how hard school can be, living with one foot in each the world of mortals and Olympians all the time. _Dis immortalis_, I understand Percy. Especially for you."

He grunts in response, still not meeting her eyes.

"You have to understand. When you decided to stay mortal, you chose all the challenges that would come with it. Whether you knew it or not, when you decided to stay mortal–"

"–mortal with you." He mutters.

She stops and turns to face him, placing a hand on his chest. "And if you want to stay with me, you..." she sighs "we will have to work on some things. College isn't just some monster to can charge and parry with. There's some inherent preparation involved. You have to study for the SAT."

He looks straight into her eyes. He knows she's right, but he's stubborn and doens't want to give in yet. "And what if I don't want to go to college Annabeth? What if I want to do something else?"

She seriously considers it for a second. After all, she has known what she wants to do with her life ever since she first walked into a vaulted cathedral. "Alright, Seaweed Brain. I'll bite. What do you want to do?"

She's trying not to smile, as if she knows that he has no idea. She's still making things hard for him. His mind casts around wildly for a second, and then lands on an idea so obvious, he seizes to it immediately. "I'll be a firefighter."

She cocks an eyebrow at him, then her features knit into her familiar thoughtful face. "Huh, that could totally work for you." Then her eyes widen and she glares at him reproachfully. "Damnit, you pulled that out of your ass didn't you?"

He grins at her, "Yup."

Just like that, she's annoyed with him again. "Well, you'll still need college hours for that you know. They won't take just any guy off the street. So guess what Seaweed Brain, you'll still have to take the SAT."

He throws his hands in the air, "Gods, that stupid test again! I'm telling you Annabeth, I'm not studying for that thing! Five hours in the same seat, staring at a computer screen? It's torture!"

She snorts. "Don't be so dramatic."

She loops an arm through his and lays her head against his shoulder, steering him down the street again. "Luckily for you, your girlfriend is a daughter of Athena and can make a strategy for anything. Including some big bad test."

He groans. "You're not letting this go, are you?"

"Oh hell no"

They walk arm in arm for a while. Percy's enjoying the evening breeze again, but he can still tell that Annabeth is annoyed with him. Oh well, he'll deal with that trouble when it arises again.

They cross a street and he starts to recognize some buildings. They're only a few blocks from her school's dormitory now, but they have to go through a less than welcoming series of streets. He wonders how she knows this route, as there's a subway entrance just across from her school.

She answers his unvoiced question. "Sometimes I like to go for walks during the day. It's not as bad in the daytime, and there's some beautiful old brownstone buildings near here."

He doesn't answer, as something else has caught his attention. Ahead, he senses a threat. They're standing just beyond the yellow flickering ring of light from a street lamp, catty-corner from the crosswalk he and Annabeth will be passing through in a few hundred feet. A small gang of grungy looking boys. They had been talking loudly amongst themselves, joking and passing around a few cigarettes. Then, one of them had nudged the bulkiest one, said something and guffawed. Almost as one, they all had turned their gazes hungrily towards Annabeth.

Percy felt Annabeth stiffen next to him, curl her arm tighter around his. Immediately all his senses were on high alert.

The closer they got, the more Percy decided he didn't like the way they were visually feasting on Annabeth. Like a group of _empousai_ would do to a boy, he thinks.

One of the shorter boys says something again, making his companions snigger. He then calls out something incredibly lewd to Annabeth, eliciting another round of snorts.

She mutters to Percy, "Don't think about it. Don't make contact."

But the boy continues to catcall as they approach, and to Percy his leer deepens to one of malevolent desire. When he decides to voice in detail the things he would do to Annabeth in bed, Percy snaps.

He doesn't think, doesn't even remember what he said later. But it was something decidedly unfriendly. And it must have been sincere enough of a threat to the gang that they straightened, their pack tightening. Their leers turned into ugly snarls. Keeping his eyes on Percy, the short one (who Percy decided must be the alpha) directed a comment towards Annabeth. Something about not being with someone who would satisfy her like he could.

Percy didn't like anything about what his words or tone implied, and he tried to disengage himself from Annabeth in order to let the older guy know so. But Annabeth clung more firmly to his arm and caught his eye. Her eyes ordered him firmly _Don't even think about it, Seaweed Brain_. It was one thing to kill monsters left and right, but it wouldn't do for him to get arrested for assault and battery.

But can't she hear those guys? He ought to slice their tongues out for what they're saying. But no, she's telling him firmly with those intelligent steel eyes that she's heard every syllable, but under no circumstance does she want him to engage a group of hoodlum mortals just for some stupid insults.

The boys continue to catcall Annabeth as Percy and her pass their corner and continue walking away. Anger bubbles so fiercely in Percy's ears that he can't help but lobby back a few jabs of his own.

When they finally got to the front doors of her dorm building, she whirls on Percy. "This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. Not every threat is a monster that you can slice into dust with Riptide Percy. There's more diplomatic, peaceful ways of dealing with scum like those guys. Now I probably won't be able to walk that way again. At least not on my own."

He knows she's right, but at the same time, he's riled and combative. He counters that those guys deserve to be treated as monsters. He takes the opportunity to bring up the SAT subject again. That test deserves to be shredded into dust also, after all.

Of course that doesn't pass with Annabeth. She's right, but he's stubborn and pissed. And so the argument goes round and round until, exasperated and chilled, Annabeth turns and marches inside. At the last moment, she had lobbed over her shoulder that he ought to be careful getting home. Those boys will likely still be raw at some of the things he said. He responds that he's invulnerable, remember? She slams the door behind her.

She ended with Seaweed Brain though, so he knows she can't be too mad at him. Still, she's very upset with him for not seeming to care about his future more. He mulls this over as he starts the long walk back.

It's not that he doesn't think about their future. Gods, at this point there's nothing he wants more than to stay with her forever. But the thought of college for someone like him, with ADHD and dyslexia and the propensity to attract every sort of vicious monster, is daunting to say the least. Honestly, with his grades and record, he doubts he would be able to get in anywhere.

A voice nags at the back of his mind, naturally in Annabeth's voice. _That's where the SAT comes in Seaweed Brain_, _get a good enough score and you'll get the attention of some schools. Especially with how well you've done on the swim team_. Gods, even when she wasn't here, she was right. She's always right. Including learning how to deal with problems in the mortal world. He's so used to charging at obstacles head-on (a method that had only intensified since he'd gotten the curse of Achilles), that he doesn't usually stop to consider other options. Later, he'd call Annabeth and apologize.

At some point, lost in thought, he turns down an alley he knows to be a shortcut back to his mom's apartment. He doesn't realize how poor of a decision this is until the shadows descend to form solid figures in front and behind him.

It's the leering boys from earlier. And they brought friends. The leader, the one who had been lobbying the less than flattering insults at Annabeth earlier, smirks maliciously at him. He says something about them not taking kindly to people trespassing on their turf. And even less kindly to people who insult them and bring girls they don't intend to share.

Percy's hand automatically reaches for Riptide, before remembering that it won't do him any good against mortals. He curses under his breath. He'll have to fistfight his way out. He throws another cutting remark at the short kid, something about their turf not being worth the ground Annabeth walked on, he's not really paying attention to what he's saying at this point.

Suddenly, several hands converge on him at once. He struggles, but they overwhelm him and in his initial confusion someone kicks out the back of his knees so that he's forced to a kneeling position. Two hands grab his hair and pull back, holding him fast. The leader strides right up to his face, says something about paying proper respect on their turf. And then he spits in Percy's face. That does it. Percy rolls in one direction, taking several of his 'captors' with him. When did it get to be 8 on 1? Blows rain on him from all sides, but he's invulnerable. He can hear their curses and outcries of disbelief as their fists seem bounce off. He punches and kicks and tackles bodies left and right. At some point a bottle is brought down on his head, but to no affect. He throws the offender into some garbage cans and bellows madly.

Percy has almost fought his way to the end of the alley when a sharp thwack brings him to his knees, gasping and retching with pain.

One of the boys must have taken a lucky shot as the small of his back and connected. Thank the gods it was a glancing blow, but still, it brings him down long enough for the boys to regroup into a circle around him.

He tries to stand, but his body is still trembling too mightily. He can't take too many more hits like that. _Gotta try to protect my back more. Why don't I wear armor everywhere_?

His assailants close in closely around him once more, but they seem more wary.

The leader steps forward, this time holding a thick discarded piece of wood. At the back of his mind, Percy wonders where he picked up the weapon. But then again, there are plenty of construction sites around here, it would have been easy. _Nothing like randomly discarded two by fours to keep the streets safe._

The punk wonders aloud about Percy. He can sure take a punch, they'll give him that. But he doesn't seem to have the guts –one of the minions decides to punctuate the words with swift kicks to Percy's abdomen, which cause him to gasp in pain– to hold them all off forever. Vaguely at the back of his mind it registers that he shouldn't be able to feel the blows to anywhere but his back, but he can barely think through the pain still coursing through him.

Percy receives another kick from the other side, but it doesn't hurt quite as bad and he can feel his invulnerability returning. The random hit to his back might have him temporarily incapacitated, but if he can just hold them off for a few moments...

But then, as he's about to try and stand again, the leader brings down the two-by-four across Percy's back. Part of it manages to dig into the small of his back with the impact. Once again he's immobilized by all-consuming pain. He can't see straight, can't breathe, can't even think through the agony radiating from that cursed spot.

He loses track of time after that.

He also loses track of how many times the he is struck, kicked, and beat with that damn stick. They stay mostly on his back and sides, but then one connects a foot with his face and the blood flowing from his nose excites them further.

He blacks out twice. The first time he is awoken by a couple of them pissing on his face. The second time is after he is vaguely aware that they have taken his shirt, pants, and shoes, leaving him practically naked and shaking in the puddle of his own blood and their piss.

_As he lays shivering and broken in the alley, he just hopes that Annabeth will forgive him. Killed by mortals, what kind of worthless demigod is he? Perhaps he deserves this, in retrospect. He had been rather stupid and careless. He knows what she would say to him. Of course, she might say nothing, given how annoyed she was with him when they had parted ways for the evening...he drifts into blackness._

From the depths of the blackness, he thinks he vaguely hears Annabeth's voice, calling his name in panicked tones. He wants to crawl towards her, but he still feels paralyzed from hurt and shame. Then her voice is gone, and his consciousness fades once more.

The next thing he knows, someone is cradling him in warm, familiar arms. He manages to open his eyes, and Annabeth's wide, worried grey eyes are there to greet him.

She sobs, "Oh thank gods! Percy! Percy, what happened?"

He tries to answer her, but his body aches too badly and all he can manage is an incomprehensible moan.

She pulls a canteen from her backpack, unscrews the lid, and tilts it to his lips. Pleasantly warm liquid dribbles into his mouth and he can taste his mom's blue brownies. The warmth spreads throughout his body once he feels it hit his stomach. _Nectar_.

He notices that Annabeth has him propped against the brick wall, away from the pool of darkening blood and urine. She has a blanket up around his torso, and he can see a pile of clothes next to her backpack.

He groans, shifts himself to a better sitting position, and beckons to her for another swig of the nectar. She hesitates, then tilts the bottle to his lips again. "Alright, but this is the last of it that you can have for a while. I've already given you quite a bit."

After swallowing back the nectar. He blinks groggily at her and tries to explain. "Got jumped...outnumbered...hit my back." She nods and waits for him to continue. He closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall, waiting for the nectar to kick in fully. His head still feels heavy and clouded.

He starts again after a minute. "It was pretty much game over after that. After that lucky strike, it was like someone had hit reset on the Achilles curse. I could feel everything, multiplied. They were pretty pissed, because I had given them, all 8 of them, a run for the their money before that. They took turns hitting me with a goddamned two-by-four."

He feels her hand squeeze his, and then he opens one eye to her. "How did you find me anyway?"

Annabeth bites her lip, and then gestures to the pile of clothes. "When my IM message didn't get through, I came looking for you. Then I uh," she pauses, looks at him for a moment, then continues, "I spotted your shirt in the entrance to this alley, and then found the rest of your clothes scattered around. You were pretty easy to spot after that."

He scowls. "Ugh, I can't believe I got my ass handed to me by a bunch of mortal punks!"

"Hey" she kisses his forehead, which is saying something considering he knows he doesn't smell good, "it was a chance, against the odds hit. Lesson learned, right?"

He doesn't answer, just glowers into the space above the alley.

She kisses him again, then picks up his clothes. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

The nectar has done wonders, but his body is still very stiff and she has to help him pull on his jeans and shirt. When she tries to help him stand however, her hand brushes his back and he yelps.

She withdraws her hand, mortified. "Oh sorry Percy! I didn't realize how tender you are still."

He squeezes his eyes shut, as if to keep out the pain and vertigo. But when she tentatively asks to take a look under his shirt, he nods.

Her hands lift the back of his shirt as lightly as she can manage, but he still sucks in a breath. Once she gets a good look at his back, she can see why.

Blossoming from where she can only assume must be the exact epicenter of his invulnerability is the most gruesome, fantastically colored bruise she's ever seen. It's a swollen knot of damaged tissue, hematoma, and frayed nerve endings, moldy black in the middle and ranging to mottled green and purple at the fringes of the contusion. The color extends almost all the way across his back. A couple superficial lacerations towards the middle leak a thin pus.

Her face must reflect the severity of the wound, because Percy doesn't bother asking her how it looks. It's difficult to even stand up straight.

Annabeth's lips pull into a tight line across her face, and Percy catches a glimpse of the whirlwind that flashes behind her calm demeanor. She's remaining tranquil for his sake, but he can almost feel the rolling waves of fury. He almost wishes those punks would wander back this way...

She slowly rolls his shirt back down over the contusion. She comes around to his front and grasps his shoulder. "I'm going to call your mom and Paul, there's no way you're walking all the way back to your apartment." He nods grimly. As much as he doesn't want to worry his mom, and he cringes at the thought of how she'll react to the bruise, he doesn't have the strength or will to argue.

Still, he manages to tease her. "Sure we just can't go back to your dorm? Always wanted to get into those all-girl community showers..."

She rolls her eyes and doesn't answer as the call connects. "Hey, Mrs. Blofis? It's Annabeth. Sorry to wake you, but could you or Paul please come pick us up in the Prius? Yeah, we're fine. We'll explain when you get here. Thanks. We're wait for you at the McDonalds on..."

Percy loses concentration as another wave of vertigo sweeps through him. Normally his invulnerability should have kicked in by now, but those boys must have hit it enough times to knock it out of commission for now.

Annabeth puts her blanket back in her backpack and throws it on before ducking under one of Percy's shoulders. He hesitates, because he knows that he's covered with all kinds of nasty fluids that aren't all his. But she kisses the side of his head again, and says, "I can shower later Percy. Come on." He leans into her weight. Together, they start trudging towards the end of the alleyway. He can just make out the yellow glow of the arches Annabeth had described to his mother.

It takes another 10 minutes after they collapse into a window booth at the McDonalds for the blue Prius to pull up outside. Sally helps Annabeth half-carry Percy to the backseat of the car, where Paul is waiting for them with idling engine.

Annabeth climbs in first, and then Percy, groaning, pulls himself in after her. He can barely stand to have his back touched, so instead he curls into her and she wraps her arms around him so that his back is facing the front seats. Hardly the proper way to sit, but hey, screw the police.

He's feeling better by the time they pull up in front of their apartment building, but he's so tired he barely remembers the elevator ride. As exhaustion sets in to replace the pain, he numbly registers as Sally and Annabeth get him into the shower and help him get cleaned up, dressed in fresh boxers, and into bed. (something tells him he should be more squeamish about this, but he's too far gone too care). He lays prone on his bed, covers pulled down so as to not brush his back.

Annabeth and his mother have a quick exchange, and then his door is closed, the lights switched off, and Annabeth climbs under the covers to cuddle next to him.

He is almost asleep, but he turns his face to her and pulls her warmth in tighter to him. She kisses him softly on the cheek, and then once on the lips. She murmurs into his lips, "If you ever try to get yourself killed again Percy, at least give me the satisfaction of kicking your Seaweed butt for being so stupid." He grins into her lips. "Always"

After a moment, he says her name, "Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll start studying for the SAT tomorrow."


	2. Gladiator

**About four or five years after the adventures of HoO...**

* * *

For some couples it would be troublesome for "_Pleasedon'tlethimbedead Pleasedon'tlethimbedead Pleasedon'tlethimbedead_" to be a common internal prayer of the other. But when your longtime boyfriend is a son of Poseidon and has a demigod scent that attracts every monster within five miles, it gets to be a frequent occurrence. Especially since he's helped save Western civilization, _twice_.

Up until now though, the monster community has been steering clear of The Seven, given their victory over the Earth mother herself. Of course, there are the occasional run-ins with spiteful _empousai_ or wild wind spirits. But otherwise these past few years have been well, relatively safe. Annabeth and Percy had, for the first time in their lives, been able to lapse into the patterns of normal mortal life.

Annabeth reasons to herself that she should be feeling this worried now, given that they haven't had a monster encounter in almost a year. But it's not just that. Not just worry, but dread and overwhelming fretfulness. No one has seen Percy for a couple days, and she hasn't heard from him since that last IM on the evening he disappeared.

His last evening class of the semester had just been released, and she had accepted his IM from a deserted bathroom in the library of his community college. He was just letting her know that he was picking up a couple books from the library before coming home, and that he might send a couple emails to professors while he was there (Since monsters seemed to hone in on demigods using traceable technology, she and Percy didn't have a computer at home and only used the equipment at their respective universities. The risk was still pretty high, but their options were few).

She chastised him for procrastinating so long on his final papers, and he had laughed and told her not to wait up for him. She almost felt bad about teasing him with the hot slice of freshly delivered pizza in her hands.

As it turned out, she stayed up late herself, finishing a paper on the influence of the printing press on architectural innovations in rural Germany. By the time she awoke the next morning, he still hadn't materialized in their bed.

When she returned to a still empty apartment after her classes, she placed an IM straight through to Chiron. The centaur informed her that no, he hadn't seen or heard from Percy since the last time they had visited camp several weeks ago. He promised to start 'putting out feelers' however, and with that Annabeth started her search.

No one had a clue as to where Percy might have disappeared. Subsequent calls to Sally, Nico, and Reyna at Camp Jupiter had similar results. Annabeth even tried visiting her mother up on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. No one knew where Percy had gone. But they all promised to start looking and listening for signs of him. Nico assured her that, to the best of his knowledge, Percy had not died yet. Somehow that didn't make her feel any less worried.

Taking Mrs. O'Leary with her (the Mist must have made her appear as an enormous slathering boarhound, because all the mortals gave her and the hellhound a very wide berth), Annabeth was able to track Percy's last movements through the library and across the city back towards their apartment. Then, at the mouth of a shadowed, winding alley, she began to notice signs of a struggle. A chipped brick here, tracings of monster dust there (confirmed by Mrs. O'Leary, whom Percy had trained to point at monster dust), and some minor blood spatter. Some loose papers fluttered weakly from a gaping hole in what she recognized to be his backpack. It was torn to shreds, as if something had seized it with jaw or claw and given it a good shake. Despite her increasing discontent, she couldn't help but think how pissed he would be if he saw the mangled state of his term paper (she didn't want to think about how much time she herself had spent editing that damn essay).

Mrs. O'Leary followed the scent down the alley down a couple blocks to Central Park. The trail finally petered off at some boulders deep in the park. There, tucked into the shadows of the rocky outcropping, was an all-too-familiar delta symbol. Smeared with a thick smear of dried blood. It's been so long since they'd battled monsters, the sight of the blackened crimson drives her into a minor panic. Whatever had grabbed Percy had dragged him into the recesses of the reforming Labyrinth.

Annabeth now risks using her cell phone to call Rachel, who is vacationing with her father in Italy. Rachel answers the phone with a cheerful "Annabeth!" But she can't get a word in for a while after that, as Annabeth announces "Percy's missing" before launching without pause into a rapid, breathlessly-pinched-with-anxiety, and higher-than-normal-pitched explanation. Without further ado, the ginger Oracle promises to be on the first plane back to NY. Gods bless Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Without a clear destination or map, Rachel is Annabeth's only hope to navigate the winding corridors without becoming lost herself.

In the meantime, Annabeth places an IM to Tyson, down in Poseidon's palace. After hearing that his big brother has been abducted, Tyson is raring to join the rescue party. But Annabeth tells him, delicately, that this mission likely requires more stealth than an 8 ft tall young Cyclopes could manage. She convinces him to stay behind, and to deliver a message to Poseidon. He doesn't look happy about it, but he agrees and runs off to "Tell Daddy that Percy needs help."

She then, after some deliberation, decides to enlist Nico's help as well. Her initial IM gets through to him, but with very poor reception. He must be in the Underworld, at Hades' palace or on errand for him. In any case, after a minute of them gesturing at each other through the patchy image and botched audio, he waves a hand through the IM. This of course, severely pisses her off at first, but within a few minutes Nico calls her back. The reception is much better, and from the background she determines that he has teleported himself to the Hades cabin at Camp (she designed almost all the new cabins after all, so she knows them inside and out).

As she tells him her plan, he grimaces and asks why she can't use Mrs. O'Leary. She explains that she believes he can shadow travel more effectively than the hellhound, and he's more stealthy. After all, Nico did transport a giant gilded statue as well as two passengers all the way across the Atlantic. He scowls, rolls his eyes, and mutters that he should have kept his skill a secret. But he acquiesces, and within moments arrives at her apartment.

Rachel arrives within a day of Annabeth's call, but they can only explore the opening alcoves of the Labyrinth before they have to stop. Even with the Oracle's help, Annabeth has no idea what or who might have taken Percy. They need a heading.

Finally, in the early morning hours four days after Percy's disappearance, Chiron contacts Annabeth with a lead. In the background of the IM message, she can hear the whoops and general chaos that can only mean Chiron is still with the Party Ponies (Mississippi chapter). Through the din of crashing bottles, hearty guffaws, and LMFAO music, Annabeth gets her heading. She, Rachel, and Nico will be searching for the newly established underground Geryon's Monster Smash Arena.

They waste no time descending through the Central Park entrance, Rachel taking the lead as the path becomes clear to her. Nico brings up the rear, striding confidently in the dim light of the twisting passages. He holds a smoldering grudge against the monster who would have sold him to Kronos, back in the Titan war. Along the way, Annabeth explains what information Chiron had been able to pass on.

Apparently, the entrepreneurial Geryon hadn't returned directly to his ranch in Texas after escaping from Tartarus in the chaos of the giant's war (to be sure, she had briefly IMd the immortal demigod now in charge of the ranch. He confirmed that Geryon hadn't returned, but that he had received orders from the bastard for some flesh-eating horses). Instead, he had started a dodgy fighting club with whatever monsters he could capture or lure into his subterranean coliseum. He would take all comers, and apparently made a mountain of profit in drachmas from the concessions and bets.

Some of Chiron's more rowdy relatives found these fights irresistible, both as participants and from the audience. A few of them who frequented the arena mentioned that Geryon's newest attraction was a captured demigod who was pitted in the arena against anyone who could pay. Or against any monster that the audience would pay to watch him fight. Annabeth had a good idea who Geryon was forcing to fight. She can only hope that they can find the arena before he is overwhelmed.

Time in the Labyrinth passes indiscriminately and without measure. After marching for what seems like hours, they come across a group of young telekhines. A few of them sport black Tshirts emblazoned with "MONSTER SUPER SMASH" in bold highlighter green font. Several are clutching folded pamphlets. In a fury, Annabeth and Nico slice through the telekhines before they can even bare their fangs. Rachel picks up one of the pamphlets now covered with monster dust. She glances over it, then hands it to Annabeth, hands shaking slightly. "Well, at least we know we're headed to the right place."

The pamphlet lists all the fights at Geryon's arena for that day, as well as betting odds for the various competitors. Most of the fighters are listed with WWE-reminiscent stage names, what type of monster it is, and it's current betting odds. Included at least twice on the program, as well as under 'Available by request or for encore performance' (performance? She snarls internally) is the listing "Hero of Olympus, demigod."

Nico, who is reading the program over her shoulder, whistles softly and comments "Wow, looks like someone is winning some heavy drachma on Percy." Annabeth is about to slug him, but Rachel beats her to it. "The fuck is wrong with you!?" Rubbing his shoulder, he apologizes to Annabeth, but her attention has focused elsewhere already. Printed on the last page of the pamphlet is a clearly marked map for how to find the arena. At last, a stroke of good luck. And they weren't more than a couple miles away.

She turns to her companions. "Change of plans. Rachel, once we get close enough," she points to a position on the map, "I want you to go back with Nico. There's no need for you to be in danger while we go in to get Percy." Rachel protests, "I'm already down here with you, I can–" but Annabeth cuts her off. "No, look. I only have one invisibility hat, and Nico can keep himself inconspicuous in the shadows. We'll have to get in and out quickly and with at little commotion as possible."

Rachel resignedly sighs. "Alright, but why don't I just turn back now? You've got that map now."

Annabeth shakes her head, "There's no guarantee that its either accurate or the quickest way to get there. I want you along at least part of the way, just in case."

She continues, "Nico, once you get Rachel back to Camp, rendezvous back with me. I'll just wait for you there, and then we can go on. I'll remain invisible past that point, but stay close enough to you that we can communicate quietly."

Nico nods. "Sounds good. How are we going to find Percy once we get there?"

Annabeth considers that for a moment, staring blankly at the pamphlet. "Not sure. But see here," she points to a fight on the page, "they've got him scheduled to fight in the last fight today. If we can get there before then, we can hopefully find him then. The rest of it we'll have to scope it out once we get there."

Nico grins. "Sounds like one of Percy's improvise and go plans."

Annabeth scowls at him, "Whatever, we're going in blind, which I obviously wouldn't prefer. But we'll work with what we have."

Rachel says brightly, "Unknown danger, I love it!"

Annabeth rolls her eyes, but her eyes softening for the first time in days, looks at each of her friends earnestly. "Thank you for coming, both of you."

Rachel waves her hand, "Please, like you and Percy wouldn't do the same thing in a heartbeat."

Nico shrugs. "Yeah, I didn't have anything better to do anyway." Which earns him another slap from Rachel.

Without further ado, Rachel takes the map and jogs down the tunnel.

They move quickly through straightaway halls, meandering alleys, forks, and down a couple staircases until Rachel comes to a sudden stop. Nico sucks in a breath, "Well, that's different."

They're facing a roundabout, with four exits branching off and a fountain at its center, depicting a fight between a bull and a man. Water spouts from the spot where the bull's nostrils, man's mouth, both penises, as well as where the bull's horn is goring the matador's abdomen. Rachel only barely glances at the bizarre fountain though, and frowns at the four paths ahead.

Annabeth steps up beside her. "Well, which way is it?"

Rachel looks down at the map, then squints down one of the tunnels. "That one" she gestures to the second from the left "is the one on the map here. And I think it will take you to the arena. But for some reason I'm getting a strong sense Percy is down that one," she indicates the next tunnel entrance to the right.

Annabeth pulls out her Yankees cap. "Alright, I'm going to scout it out. You two stay here, hidden in the shadows. Be right back." And with that she shoves on the cap and hurries down the second tunnel Rachel pointed out.

She doesn't go more than a hundred yards into the tunnel before it opens up into a cavernous space. The ceiling is now at least two stories above her head, and she can see various pulley and rope systems snaking down to various point in the warehouse type area before her. The tunnel exit is somewhat elevated above the rest of the cavern, so she can get a good view of the interior, which is fairly well lit by hundreds of flickering torches. It reminds her of a storage unit building, with many crosshatched halls lined by doors of various sizes. Only these doors are obviously cells and cages, meant to house the victims and contestants of the fights above. She realizes that she must be looking upon the hypogeum of the arena, engineered just as the ancient Colosseum in Rome must have been.

As she watches, a creaking pulleys to her right struggle to lift a platform up to a trap door in the ceiling. Upon the platform is a smoke-filled metal cage, from which emanates a sinister growl. Through the opening trap door, Annabeth can hear the roar of a stadium crowd and the garbled voice of an announcer.

Simultaneously, two facts become clear to her. One, _Percy is somewhere down here_. Two, they don't have the time to search all of the prisons individually. She's sure that they'd be detected before they could find him. They are so close. Frustration threatening to outweigh her calm, strategic demeanor, she fights the urge to force her dagger down the throat of a guard. There's certainly plenty to choose from...

Instead, she takes a controlled breath and checks the pamphlet copy she brought with her. The fight immediately before Percy's last one has a dragon listed as one of the contestants, just like the one she saw being lifted to the trapdoor. She returns back to Rachel and Nico.

She relays what she found. Rachel wishes her luck, gives her a quick hug, then takes Nico's hand firmly. Together they slip away into the darkness behind a corner. Annabeth, invisible once more beneath her Yankees hat, doesn't have to wait for more than a few minutes before Nico returns, folding himself out of the fountain's shadow. He curses, as he only just managed to avoid landing in the shallow water by flinging himself over the shallow wall. In a manner much unbecoming of the Death King, he lands on his face. Grumbling furiously to himself, he mutters in no particular direction to Annabeth, "Don't you say a word." Annabeth puts her hand on his shoulder and helps him to his feet, glad that he can't see the sharp smirk across her face.

She whispers to him, "I'm walking down the tunnel towards the arena now, don't let yourself be seen." and then, as if an afterthought, "And try to stay on your feet for the time being." She doesn't see his response.

The audience's side of the arena is set up much in the way that a modern day football stadium might be, with numbered sections and various foot vendors yelling last calls for alcohol. They find their way to the lowest tier of seating, which sits at the cusp of the high wall surrounding the arena. Annabeth and Nico remain behind all the other spectators, though still well within clear sight of the entire arena. They've arrived just as several telekhines with brooms finishing sweeping away the aftermath of the last fight. Then, the announcer's voice (which she recognizes as Geryon's) booms over the stadium, announcing the last fight, as requested, between the "previously undefeated Hero of Olympus" and an "tetracephalohydra." Two trapdoors open, one slowly bring to the surface and snarling, four-headed hydra and the other, Percy.

Relief washes over her, as he appears unhurt. But then she notices the state of his clothes, the bloodstains and slashes, the tattered state of his jeans, and she knows that they have been healing him somehow. She finds it highly unlikely that the monsters would have come into a supply of nectar or ambrosia, but stranger things have happened. Still, he's been here, fighting for almost six days now. How does he have the energy?

Her breath catches as he clashes with the hydra. The battle is furious, but drags on longer than she might have expected it to. This too, gives her a clue as to the true nature of Percy's weariness. There are several opportunities where she wills him to take an opening, an opportunity, but his instincts must be dampened from mental fatigue. Several times its all she can do not to leap in the arena and finish off the hydra for him, but that would all but ensure both her and Nico's capture as well. She can only watch and send her prayers to him, her heart lodged firmly in her throat and her stomach twisted in knots.

When he finally defeats the hydra, he collapses from exhaustion. The crowd nonetheless roars with pleasure. Two _empousai_ (strangely dressed as cowgirls she notes) enter the ring and place tight shackles on his wrists and ankles, prison style. Annabeth grits her teeth in fury as they loop a noose round his neck and haul him to his feet. Geryon's voice booms over the loudspeakers, "The Hero of Olympus, monsters and mistresses!" Shouts and jeers are freely lobbied at Percy, who sways with fatigue. Their taunts seem to infuriate him and he tries to turn and bellow some curse at Geryon. But with a cruel yank the _empousai_ bring him crashing again to the ground. Rubbish and yells continue to rain down upon him as the _empousai_ drag him stumbling through the gates to the hypogeum.

Annabeth seizes Nico's arm and he draws her into a shadow. Moments later they stumble into the dim gangway leading out of the arena floor, several dozen yards behind Percy and his captors. Annabeth follows them silently through the maze of cages and cells. She doesn't look back to make sure Nico is following her, but she trusts that the son of Hades can stalk as quietly as the shadows. There are too many guards, so she must stay alert and focused. And for now, she must bide her time.

Percy is frogmarched through the maze of cages until they reach an open tiled area with a drain in the floor and several reels of hoses and spigots hanging from the walls. He moans in protest once they arrive, although Annabeth doesn't understand why until one of the _empousai_ grabs two of the hoses, one labeled "Phlegethon" and the other labeled "Sea Water." Percy's shackles are secured to a post near the drain. First they spray him roughly with the 'sea water' hose, not bothering to lower the pressure at all. Next, several guards step forward to hold him as he is forced to drink from the firewater hose. Rage courses through her so fiercely that she quivers, remembering the horrid sensation of the Phlegethon.

Finally, they take him into a cell and she slips in behind them before the door is shut and bolted. It takes her eyes some time to adjust to the dingy light, but eventually she sees him, semi-conscious and slumped against the wall.

His wrists are still shackled together, and are now also been secured to iron rings flanking him on the cell wall. This effectively prevents him from being able to reach Riptide in his pocket. His ankles are chained as well, but to another solitary iron loop on the floor in front of him. The noose is still around his neck, tied to the same ring that prevents the free movement of his legs.

As soon as she can see well enough to move quietly, she practically sprints across the cell to him, throwing her arms around him and smothering his cry of surprise in a kiss. Though his body initially tensed, she holds the embrace and kiss until she feels him recognize the feel of her lips. She pulls back, holding a hand to his mouth, and takes off her cap. His eyes practically tear over in relief and joy.

He starts to ask her, "Annabeth?! How–?" But she stops him with another kiss. He responds in kind, his manacled hands moving what little they could to grasp her shirt and bring her closer to him. He was normally a passionate kisser, but this was something else entirely. Every part of his being seemed to yearn for her, to deep reach of his lips, mouth, tongue and hot breath reaching for her and yet yielding all of him.

She can't help but yield to the desperate passion of the embrace, so strongly relieved she is to be near him again.

She wants enjoy their reunion a while longer, but Nico coughs quietly behind her and she breaks the kiss. There's some commotion from the guards outside. But by the time the empousai clank their way back into the cell moments later, the shackles lay empty and shattered. Before shadow-traveling away, Percy supported between her and Nico, Annabeth sends a brusque prayer to Poseidon. "Hey Earthshaker, here's the beacon I promised. I got your son back, but it would be really great if you could make this place collapse in on itself. Turning the four main corner pillars ought to do it."

As Nico pulls them into the shadows, great chunks of the crumbling ceiling crash to the ground.


	3. Deep Dish

**Deep Dish**

Annabeth wakes up first. It's late in the day, they've allowed themselves to sleep in for once. She looks at him for a while, sees the black stubble starting to curl on itself as it lengthens on his jaw. She reaches out to stroke his stubbly cheek before getting up to make coffee. Once it gurgles itself alive, sending the smell of coffee wafting through the apartment, she returns to the bedroom. She awakens him with a kiss. He groans and peeks through heavy lids at her.

"Hey" he mumbles with a lethargic grin.

"Hey" she responds. "Happy Birthday Seaweed Brain."

His grins broadens sleepily, and he returns "Happy Anniversary Wise Girl." She holds his gaze until the daze slips from his eyes and suddenly a shadow of confusion creases his brow. "Wait, what day is it?"

"August 17"

He frowns. She knows his birthday is tomorrow. "Annabeth, why are you–?"

"I have epic anniversary plans for you birthday boy. And it works out better if we celebrate a day early, since Jason is intent on taking you out barhopping on the evening of your real 21st."

Percy groans melodramatically, then sits up, wraps an arm around her waist, and draws her to him. "After his birthday last month, I think he's planning some revenge."

Jason's birthday, on July 1st, had been debaucherous to say the least. Percy, though underage at the time, had managed to procure a barrel of strong Italian wine. Romans had been infamously fond of their wine after all. Though they had all partaken of the barrel (Piper and Annabeth had both become incredibly giggly, and even Nico had been persuaded to laugh a bit more than usual), Percy couldn't help but notice that Jason seemed to be shrouded in a purple haze. Only Annabeth had bothered to ask him where he had gotten the barrel. Jason didn't find out himself until the next morning. Percy had sacrificed of a week's worth of Diet Pepsi to Bacchus in order to get the barrel. Bacchus had warned him that the first to drink from the barrel would receive his blessing, which would put him into deep, joyful, and enthusiastic state of drunkenness. Percy made sure that Jason got the first drink.

Regardless, Bacchus had decided to grace the whole party with his blessing as well. The next morning had been a puzzle to everyone involved. Behind the haze of his throbbing head, Percy had been reminded of the movie _The Hangover_. He hadn't been too upset with Bacchus though, as what little he did remember of the night included raucous, adventurous, and carefree blessing sex with Annabeth. They had both awoken sore in rather unexpected places.

Annabeth laughs and pecks him on the lips. "We'll just have to wait and see about that. Jason's got your 21st birthday handled. For our anniversary..." she runs her fingers through his hair, mussing it tenderly. "...you're in my hands."

He hums contentedly "I can roll with that."

She trails her fingers down his chest. "Now, get showered and dressed. I'm going to make breakfast."

As he gets ready, she makes them both a heaping plate of blue ham and eggs. When Percy emerges from the bedroom some minutes later, smelling fresh and his damp hair sticking up in odd places, his eyes widen and he emits a breathy laugh of delight. "My mom never thought of this!"

They sit across from each other, sharing the food and comfortable conversation. After they've finished, Percy insists on doing the dishes, though Annabeth protests and tries to maneuver around him to the sink. They wrestle for a moment, Percy attempting to box Annabeth out from the sink and washing machine. Eventually, with a well-placed elbow to his side and a simultaneous nip on his ear, he relents and lets her dry the dishes.

Throughout the chore he pesters her for details of the day. She refuses, teasing him with infuriatingly vague hints and allusions.

Finally, he whines "At least tell me if we're coming back here tonight."

She sighs in false exasperation. "No, we won't be back until tomorrow."

He fidgets then, and his neck reddens slightly. "Well, then I might as well give you your anniversary gift now." And hurries back to the bedroom.

She hears him rummage in the closet for a bit, before he returns with a shoebox.

"Annabeth, I know that five years is a big deal. Especially for us. I mean, gods, most demigods don't even live this long, and these past five years have been the best of my life. I...I wanted to give you something that showed you just how much you mean to me. Well...here"

He sets the box down, first taking out something long and thin, wrapped in velvet. He handles it gingerly, with care that he normally reserves for her. She copies his manner, taking it with soft fingers. She slowly unwinds the velvet to unveil a shining dagger sheathed in highly polished Celestial bronze. It's intricately decorated by delicate images, set into the sheath with spidery cords of gold. Her breath catches in her throat. "Percy..." He remains silent, waiting for her to continue examining it.

The thin cords depict various images from their life together, starting with a poising minotaur and continue winding about the sheath. The last image in the procession is of a rolled diploma. The dagger's hilt sparkles with various types of shades of sea green precious stones, predominantly black opal and mother of pearl. It shimmers as she turns it in hand, a magnificent stone replica of Percy's irises. She unsheathes it and hefts it in her hand and finds that the handle molds perfectly to her grip. The dagger balances excellently in her hand as well. The blade is forged of two metals, razor sharp and polished to a mirror sheen. She realizes with a jolt that the blade is half Celestial bronze and half cold-tempered steel, not unlike Krono's scythe. She looks at Percy questioningly.

He speaks anxiously. "Tyson helped me design it, and forged it himself. It's got a similar spell on it as that shield from the Titan war. Except you can also ask anytime to see me if you want, and you'll be able to see me as long as I have Riptide. I don't really understand it, but the blades are somehow connected. Tyson could tell you about it." He pauses to take a quick breath. When he speaks again, its more hesitantly.

He's not sure how she'll react. "I wanted the blade to be half steel because...I...I want you to be able to defend yourself against anything. Some mortals are just as despicable as monsters, and I couldn't stand it if something–"

Annabeth throws her arms around his neck (careful not to stab him by accident) and halts his words with a kiss. "Percy, shut up. I love it. It's perfect."

He gathers her hands in his. "There's one more thing. These images" he traces a calloused finger along the swirled gold patterns" represent the most important moments of our lives since we've known each other. This dagger, it's name is ἄρμα,Union...I know we're not ready yet, but it's meant to represent a..._my_ promise to you. Annabeth, I want to marry you, to turn these five years into the rest of our lives." A shy grin creeps onto his features. "I figured you would appreciate a promise dagger more than a promise ring, Wise Girl. But check this out. Hold the sheath in your left hand and put the dagger back in."

She does as he says, and as soon as the dagger clicks into place, it shimmers. In the blink of an eye, the dagger has shrunk and morphed itself into a delicately braided Celestial bronze ring, fitting perfectly onto her left hand ring finger. She gasps.

In one of the rare moments of her life, Annabeth cannot compel herself to speak. Never would she have imagined Percy thinking up something so beautiful. Her heart throbs against her chest with almost painful, consuming emotion. She's never felt so complete, happiness, awe and love imbued in her every feature. She looks deep into the sea green she knows so well, her grey eyes soaking in every wisp and pitch of pigment. Her eyes draw his lips to hers, and she smiles into the kiss. "I'll never take it off. Gods, I love you Percy."

They stand there holding each other in a comfortable, exulting embrace, until a familiar ringtone sounds out from her phone. "That must be Hermes."

Percy looks disgruntled. "That guy has the worst timing..."

She rolls her eyes at him as reaches for the phone. She's got a different alert programmed for each of the gods that prefers to contact her via mobile phone, which thankfully is a short list. She halts the chirruping rendition of _I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date..._ and answers it immediately. "Hello, Lord Hermes? Is everything ready?... Great. We'll be up in a couple minutes."

Percy raises an eyebrow at her, his curiosity appearing in shallow furrows on his brow. "Hermes Express huh? What did you do for him to get another romantic evening out?"

She shrugs. "Nothing really. I helped him redesign some shipping routes, made things more efficient for him. Introduced some of the gods to Twitter, so he didn't have to work as hard to deliver messages."

Percy whistles. "Wow, so exotic, romantic destination do we get roundtrip tickets for this time? Honestly I've seen enough of the Mediterranean for a while, but I'd be down for Australia. That Barrier Reef is supposed to be something else."

She mentally files that comment away for a future trip, but just gives him a noncommittal smile. "You'll see."

Taking his hand, she leads him out the door and up the few flights of stairs to the roof. There, they open the door to find Hermes waiting for them, though currently engrossed in a phone call with someone. Once he hangs up, he warmly wishes them a happy anniversary, tells Annabeth just to ring him when they're ready for pickup, then waves his caduceus. In a flash of light, Percy and Annabeth find themselves standing on a waterfront boardwalk.

Just as in their trip to Paris, Hermes has taken the liberty of changing their wardrobe as well. A cerulean summer dress now hangs lightly on the curves and frame of Annabeth's body in such a way that tantalizes Percy. Her owl earrings sparkle above a necklace of blue-grey pearls, while her Camp necklace dangles on her wrist, where it wraps around a few times. Union glints subtly on her left hand.

Percy sports dark slacks, cerulean suspenders that match Annabeth's dress, and a faintly pinstriped button up shirt that is left open at the top. A dark sport coat that pairs with the slacks is thrown over his shoulder. Annabeth gets a glimpse of his chiseled chest peeking from the top of his shirt. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up just past his elbows, so that both his legion tattoo and CHP necklace (which is wound about his wrist just as Annabeth's) are visible.

Percy sincerely hopes that they'll get to keep their new clothes, because Annabeth looks downright _HolyfuckingHera_ gorgeous in this dress. The brilliant blue of the dress contrasts her eyes so that the stormy grey draws him in all the more even as the blue-accents on her athletic body crave his attention. Annabeth doesn't notice at first, as she's too busy taking in their surroundings, determining their location based on some map that she undoubtedly memorized earlier. But eventually the intensity of his gaze pulls her eyes back to his; the awed hunger in his expression makes her blush.

"Oh gods Annabeth, you look, wow. I'm just really glad your mom can't read minds right now."

She pulls him to her, sliding a hand up his back as she kisses him once at the corner of his mouth. "You don't look so bad yourself Seaweed Brain."

Warmth spreads through his chest and he grins at her, squeezing her hand before he finally tears his eyes from hers. He sweeps his head from side to side taking in his surroundings. The adjacent body of water appears to stretch on as an ocean, but he somehow knows this isn't one. Son of the sea god instincts are usually pretty dependable sources for these things. Ahead of them rises a rounded building, flanked by a harbor and the unfamiliar skyline of a city beyond it. "So, where are we anyway?"

"Chicago, the windy city. But don't worry, none of the wind gods are going to interrupt us tonight."

He snorts. "Can I get that in writing?"

"Already did. Hermes made sure to spread the word that we weren't to be disturbed tonight, for anything."

Both of his eyebrows lift at her in surprise. "Once again Wise Girl, you never cease to amaze me. So, what are we doing in the not-so-windy city?"

With that, she strides ahead, leading him towards the rounded building. Which, as he soon finds out, is the 100% mortal built and managed Shedd Aquarium. They spend a good portion of the afternoon wandering through the various exhibits. Percy gets a kick out of conversing with schools of fish in the larger tanks. He manages to talk the fish in several tanks into swimming in various fantastic formations, much to the amazement of the groups of schoolchildren scurrying through the exhibits as well. The penguin habitat delights Annabeth, and Percy gets her to giggle first with his imitation of their ice walk, then laughing so hard she snorts when penguins in the exhibit start to mock his efforts.

Afterwards, she guides him through the bustling city to a crowded pizza parlor. As much as he loves pizza, and as enjoyable as the aquarium visit may have been for Percy, he doesn't fully understand why Annabeth brought him here until the waiter returns with a steaming, thickly aromatic pizza pie. Authentic Chicago pizza. He should have guessed. The pie was delicious, and of course Percy demolished it. He's so thrilled with the thick wedges of saucy, cheesy, garlicky nirvana that he doesn't even mind when a glob of crushed tomato lands on his new white shirt. He wipes the smirking laugh off Annabeth's face with a messy kiss. They share a milkshake, and then walk off the food coma, admiring the sights of the windy city hand in hand.

Once the sun touches the horizon in its final descent, Annabeth calls Hermes and, in another strobe flash, they leave Chicago.

Much to Percy's astonishment, the breeze greeting them is not the loud sweeping of New York air, but instead warm, salty, and tropical. They've arrived on a long expanse of pristine beach, where they're entirely alone except for the distant calls of unnamed birds, the rustling of oscillating palm fronds, and the deep ringing tones of a wind chime on a nearby darkened beach house.

The scent of the ocean engulfs Percy; his senses sharpen as the proximity of his father's domain invigorates him. He breathes in the familiar aroma, relaxing into his surroundings. Annabeth squeezes his hand. "Welcome to Hawaii, Seaweed Brain."

And thus one of the best evenings of their young lives truly begins as he sweeps her into his arms and twirls her about, his giddy grin compelling her to laugh and grin back at him. His lips meet hers and they fall into the surf, the vigorous play of their mouths and tongues seeking to soak in the moment as much as their other sensations. They laugh and splash around in the waves, their evening clothes forgotten.

Eventually they find the swimming suits left for them on the porch of the beach house. Changing takes a little longer than it should, as Percy snatches the top piece to Annabeth's red Speedo bikini and leads her in a gleeful chase that ends in the bedroom. One quick makeout session later, they return to the beach carrying a couple surfboards. Neither one of them knows how, but Annabeth suspects, correctly as it turns out, that Percy will be a natural. It only takes him a couple tries to stand up and ride in a few waves. She is not so adept, but he helps her and eventually she manages to catch a small swell on her own.

Percy disappears under the surface for several minutes at one point. Annabeth just starts to worry if a tropical sea monster found him when his raven hair breaks water just next to her leg. He flashes her that troublemaker grin and before she even has time to say "Don't" he pulls her off her board. Under the water he forms a bubble around their heads and quiets her sputtering indignation. "Listen."

She does, and her mouth gapes in amazement as an otherworldly bugling cry drifts through the water to them. She looks at Percy, whose grin only broadens in response. Once the final echoes of the call fade away, he brings her back to the surface and their surfboards. Manipulating the current to steer their boards, he follows the trace of the call into deeper water until their beach house is only a faint speck on the beach.

With a brief, "Be right back" he dives once more. A few minutes later, Annabeth screams in surprise as two massive spouts of vapor explode a few yards in front of her. Percy clambers atop his board almost simultaneously and reassures her with a wink. She punches him in the arm, but he just laughs and points at the water directly beneath her board. The dorsal crest of humpback whale calf slowly breaks surface less than a foot from her leg. She can't help but exhale in amazement as its large benevolent eye appraises her. It winks at her once, or at least she would have sworn that it did, before diving again. She takes Percy's hand as the two whales start to playfully breach and slap their tales nearby.

When they eventually return to shore, a tall tan, Bermuda-clad man with jet black hair and well-trimmed beard awaits them. Percy clasps his fathers forearm, and, after Poseidon extends a warm greeting to Annabeth, he and Percy share a short walk down the beach. Annabeth meanwhile makes a run to the beach house in search of the bar, which she finds is fully stocked. There's a cushioned hammock bench on the porch, and there she awaits their return, lounging, watching the surf come in, and sipping on her glass of wine.

Once Poseidon and Percy return to the stretch of beach nearest the porch, she sees the god hand his son a package. Then, after raising a hand in farewell to Annabeth, he disappears in a burst of blue-green light.

As Percy climbs onto the porch and settles next to her on the hammock, she asks "So what did he want to talk about, aside from passing on Olympian words of wisdom regarding drinking?"

Percy grins. "Something like that. He mostly just wanted to wish me happy birthday, ask how I was doing, and to give me his gift." Which he then passes to Annabeth.

It's a straight razor and shaving kit, crafted of finely polished coral. "Isn't coral too brittle to keep an edge sharp enough for shaving?"

Percy shrugs. "He said that it's enchanted to always keep its edge. Cyclopes designed-spell of course." He rubs a hand along his new stubble. "So long as its alright with you though, I think I want to grow it out a bit though. I want to see how I look with beard."

She runs a hand through his hair. "Fine with me. But if you ever decide a soul patch is a good idea, I'll shave it off for you while you sleep."

He chuckles, then looks out to the ocean, glancing back at her out of the corner of his eye. "I also told him about my gift to you."

Her grip stiffens on her glass as she looks at him warily. "And? What did he say?"

Percy smiles shyly, "He's totally cool with it. Says you're a great catch actually. Honestly though, he isn't the godly parent I'm worried about."

She leans into him, taking another sip of her wine. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She pauses, enjoying the feel of his heat and the solidness of him against her. "For now, I just want to enjoy tonight."

He wraps an arm around her, before snatching her glass and downing the rest of her wine. "Yes ma'am."

They spend the remainder of the evening alternating between the bedroom of the house and the beach; swimming, kissing, exploring the nearby reef. They only retire to the beach house after the moon has risen fully over the calm waves. He consummates his promise to her amidst the backdrop of the humming tide, under the glowing marine moon.


End file.
